Translation Theories For Subtitle Translation:Pluralism And Option

Films and television programs can always attract the attention of the audience due to their distinguishing features of visualization and vividness,and thus they are greatly welcomed among people.Even the silent films at the very early age are matched with subtitles for the audience to watch them better,let alone the audio movies.In other words,subtitles and their translations are very important in creating good viewing effects for the audience.The most significant requirement for subtitle translators is to make the translation as appropriate as possible.What's more,the translation is limited by the objective restrictions,such as space and time.Therefore,subtitle translation is special and difficult.Although the translators can translate the subtitle by intuition and sometimes translate it well,subtitle translation will produce multiple effects under the guidance of translation theory,because practice without theoretical guidance is blind practice.Scholars have conducted long-term and extensive researches on working out good subtitle translation.Through the literature review,the author finds that different scholars have proposed different translation strategies and methods from different theoretical perspectives,such as skopos theory,relevance theory,eco-translatology,functional equivalence,etc.Practice without theoretical guidance is blind practice,but practice under the guidance of multiple translation theories may be “at a loss”.Hence,among the different translation theories,which one is more suitable to guide subtitle translation and help subtitle translators produce a translation of high-quality?In view of the fact that this thesis mainly discusses the application of functional equivalence theory on some translation cases in Prison Break(S4),the author introduces the background,content and theoretical implications of functional equivalence theory in detail in Chapter 3.This thesis takes the English-Chinese subtitle translation(the version of YYeTs)in the Prison Break(S4)as the text material,and takes the translation choices as the research object,focusing on the question that which translation theory is more suitable for subtitle translation.Based on the specific translation cases,this thesis analyzes the rules followed by successful translations and found out the principles behind these translation choices(such choices may be either conscious or unconscious selected by the subtitle translator),and compares them with functional equivalence to study the guiding principle of functional equivalence theory for subtitle translation.Therefore,the research methods used in this thesis include literature review,inductive reasoning and case study.In this thesis,the English-Chinese subtitle translation cases of Prison Break(S4)are classified according to translation strategies(such as domestication and foreignization),translation methods(such as literal translation and free translation)and translation skills(such as amplification and omission).The author finds that no matter what translation strategies,methods or skills the translators applied in the subtitle translation of Prison Break(S4),they are striving to achieve the equivalence of viewing effect between Chinese audiences and foreign audiences.In other words,the translators chose appropriate translation strategies,methods and skills in order to achieve the equivalent viewing effect.The greatest factors that influence Chinese audiences' viewing effect are the speed of response and cultural relevance.If the translation takes the audiences too much time to react,the viewing effect will be affected and the equivalent viewing effect will not be achieved.Subtitle translation pursues functional equivalence instead of formal equivalence.It seems that the pursuit of successful subtitle translation fits well with functional equivalence theory.Other translation theories,such as relevance theory,skopos theory and eco-translatology,also have certain guiding significance.However,if it is not restricted to the equivalence of viewing effect,these theories are abstract and difficult to guide specific translation choices.In other words,the purpose of subtitle translation should be narrowed down to the equivalence of viewing effect.Through the study and analysis of the cases in Chapter five,the author finds that functional equivalence theory,among the multiple translation theories,is more suitable to provide subtitle translation with effective guidance.